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SEIA is the solar energy industry’s go-to source for the latest coverage on solar power, including U.S. and international policy, research and polls, business and financing trends, and more. Our staff strives to support the media covering solar energy issues and guide our members on effective media outreach with clear statements, background materials, news and multimedia resources.

SEIA is committed to informing policymakers, the media, and the American public about the benefits of solar energy for today’s communities, our economy, and our country.

Taiwanese solar stocks led by Motech Industries Inc. (6244) fell after the U.S. proposed expanded penalties on solar-energy imports in a victory for the U.S. unit of SolarWorld (SWVK) AG, which accused China of shifting production to Taiwan after it lost an earlier case.

Calling it “a lesson to be learned from, not an experience to be avoided,” the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today released a comprehensive study taking an in-depth look at Germany’s solar support programs and how the United States can benefit in the long term from the experiences of the world’s leading solar producer.

The skies are threatening to pour on the Apple solar farm but as the woman in charge of the company's environmental initiatives points out: the panels are still putting out some power. Apple is still greening its act.

The company, which once drew fire from campaigners for working conditions in China and heavy reliance on fossil fuels, is now leading other technology companies in controlling its own power supply and expanding its use of renewable energy.

In a further escalation of the solar trade war with China, the U.S. Department of Commerce has imposed yet another layer of tariffs on solar modules from China, and – for the first time – on imports from Taiwan. In a decision announced today, Commerce will immediately impose antidumping duties ranging from 26.33 to 58.87 percent for China and 27.59 to 44.18 percent for Taiwan. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) was quick to condemn the decision.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – To support the financing of community solar projects, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado today introduced the bipartisan Solar Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Act, which SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch applauded:

“If approved, Senator Udall’s legislation would allow Americans who work together as a community to employ solar to receive the same tax advantages as individual homeowners and businesses. This is an imaginative and innovative approach to expanding the use of clean solar energy nationwide.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With press reports indicating that the United States, China, and the European Union have held preliminary discussions on a possible agreement to resolve solar trade disputes, Rhone Resch, president & CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON, DC – The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the U.S. solar energy industry, and the BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations, today announced a new partnership to help support their mutual goal -- building a robust clean energy economy to power America.

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An idea is like a tiny seed. When planted in a creative mind and adequately fed, it takes root and flourishes. Like a seed, successfully deploying high-impact, cost-effective solar technologies requires a strong support system to facilitate its growth.

Homeowners across the United States have begun a rooftop solar revolution. Since 2000, more than 1,460 megawatts of residential solar installations have been installed across the country, and more than 80 percent of that capacity was added in the past four years. In 2012 alone, rooftop solar installations reached 488 megawatts, a 62 percent increase over 2011 installations and nearly double the installed capacity added in 2010.

The media has recently been full of stories about electric utilities being nervous and down right reactionary to adding solar (and wind) on the electric grid. On October 15th, The Huffington Post’s story on the Hawaii Electric Company (HECO) reported, “hundreds of Oahu customers have gotten burned in their transition to solar. They have gotten caught in limbo since September 6 when HECO changed the rules for connecting solar systems.”

In northern New Mexico the sun shines nearly every day of the year. If solar energy is going to be viable anywhere, it will be here—and a small electric cooperative in historic Taos is taking advantage of it. In addition to supporting new solar projects in its service area, Kit Carson Electric Cooperative is offering its customers the opportunity to buy solar energy from “plots” in a “garden” of solar power generation.

Farmers in Japan can now generate solar electricity while growing crops on the same farmland. In April, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) approved the installation of PV systems on existing crop-producing farmland. Previously solar generation on farmland, productive or idle, was prohibited under the Agricultural Land Act.

This co-existence or double-generation is known as “Solar Sharing” in Japan. The concept was originally developed by Akira Nagashima in 2004, who was a retired agricultural machinery engineer who later studied biology and learned the “light saturation point.” The rate of photosynthesis increases as the irradiance level is increased; however at one point, any further increase in the amount of light that strikes the plant does not cause any increase to the rate of photosynthesis.